“I said no, and you went ahead with your project.” His head tilted to the right. “Do you want to explain yourself before I have security show you out?”
“Whoa. All I did was pull some scraps from past projects. It’s not like we were going to be using them for anything.”
“You used proprietary technology inappropriately.” His brows arched, daring me to deny it.
“We’ve got the chance to do some real good as a company. The brace I made saved an animal’s life. If you want to change morale around here, you should be promoting that.”
“Sage advice from a former employee. I’ll be sure to pass that along.” He nudged his chin toward the door. “You’re fired. You need to leave the premises. I’ll have your things delivered to you later.”
“You can’t do that.” Though I’d planned on leaving, I wanted it to be on my own terms. I had a kid to support, rent to pay, and hopefully, an upcoming wedding to plan. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
“I just did. We’re also sending an invoice to the Back Forty Animal Rescue. They’ll have ten days to pay, or we’ll need to repossess the brace you made.”
Anger welled up inside. “That’s a bullshit move, and you know it.”
He flinched, but moved past me to the door. “Leave your badge at reception on your way out. Due to the circumstances, there won’t be any severance package offered. I’m sure you understand.”
Two security guards stood outside the door. I wasn’t going to put up a fight. My first priority was to get ahold of Devyn before she received that invoice. No telling how much they planned on overcharging her for something made from scraps.
I backtracked through the foyer, stopping long enough to slide my badge across the counter to the receptionist. As soon as my feet hit the sidewalk out front, I called Devyn.
“Hey.” The warmth in her voice seeped through the phone line, immediately bringing my blood pressure down.
“Bad news, sweetheart. My boss found out about the brace I made for Shirley. They’re sending you an invoice for it, but don’t panic. We’ll figure this out.”
“An invoice? I thought you checked with them about donating the brace?”
“I did. They said no, but I did it, anyway.” And I’d do it again. The look on her face when she saw Shirley take those first steps made me feel like a fucking hero. It was worth losing a job I hated. I was just sorry she’d been pulled into the mess I’d made.
“Oh my god. I just pulled up the rescue’s email. They want ten thousand dollars, Henry. I don’t have that kind of money.” Panic laced through her tone.
“I’ll figure this out. Send me the video you took of Shirley taking her first steps. I’m going to see if I can get it to go viral. They’ll get so much good publicity, they’ll have to back off.” My plan had to work. I didn’t have ten grand sitting around either.
“You really think that will work?”
“I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll still plan on coming down tomorrow night after I pick Graham up from school. We can talk more about it then.” I couldn’t stand to think I’d failed her. Not when we’d finally found our way back to each other.
“Okay. I’m sending it over now. I sure hope it works, otherwise I don’t know how I’ll come up with that much money.”
“Love you, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon.” We hung up, and I immediately uploaded the video to every social media account I had. I might not have been able to convince them to do some good, but public opinion held a lot more weight than my request.
With my fingers crossed, I made the post.
* * *
Devyn
Ten thousand dollars. The rescue operated on a shoestring budget, with barely anything left over from month to month. I already took a salary that barely let me pay my bills. There was no way I could come up with that kind of money.
But Duke could.
I didn’t want to ask him. Didn’t want to hear him rub it in my face that he told me so about Henry. But I might not have another choice. We hadn’t spoken since last Sunday at the farm. He’d sent texts, left voice messages, and even sent me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers to try to make up for accidentally hitting me. With a ball of dread swirling around inside my belly, I dialed my big brother’s number.
“Dev. Finally. I’ve been sick about what happened last weekend.” Regret filled his tone.
“I know. All’s forgiven, though I need you to back off when it comes to Henry.” I wouldn’t let him bully me anymore. He might think he had my best interests in mind, but I could take care of myself.
“He’s not the man you think he is. You deserve so much better.”